


you're only here cause it's cold

by LinkeyBlue



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Childhood Trauma, Depression, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Player Character, Other, Slow Burn, also i KNOW the sams are confusing but i refuse to compromise on the mc's name, at some point lol, everyone gets mentioned in this, everyone'll start getting therapy at some point, i just put the ones who come up most often, the main character is straight nonbinary but they're male presenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:33:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28881765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinkeyBlue/pseuds/LinkeyBlue
Summary: After major changes shift Sam's life- they come to the farm their grandfather had gifted them so many years ago.  The town is bustling with lively and joyful people, and yet they can't help but feel unsatisfied even still.  Maybe they always would.That is, until they meet the town's drunk.
Relationships: Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Character(s), Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Male Character(s), Shane/Male Player (Stardew Valley), Shane/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	you're only here cause it's cold

**Author's Note:**

> heya!! this is my first serious fic on here lolol i deleted my other ones cause they were superrr old. if you see parallels in this fic and anyone's else that is probably because i have spent hours binge-reading other people's fics lol  
> updates'll probably come out weekly, but i'm not promising anything lol. i've barely gotten any sort of outlining done- this is just a fun passion project for me <3 ask me to tag anything if i missed it. also i tried to make the pace faster for the starting chapters but i might slow down if i feel like it's speeding cause that was my main gripe with this chapter

Sam had never been one to take on exciting, life-altering decisions. To be honest, this was entirely their boyfriend’s- ex-boyfriend’s idea, they reminded themself. And they saw merit in the idea, especially because of how unsatisfied they had become at their job working at Jojamart. What a sad place, they thought- realizing just how dull and lifeless it was compared to the hills and trees colored with bright greens that passed their bus’s window. They had managed to snag a seat nearest to the window, and luckily there weren't many other people.   
It only took a couple of minutes before the bus came to a halting stop, the brakes chugging slightly as they parked. Sam got up sluggishly from the hours long drive, grabbing their luggage from the shelf above them and walking out of the vehicle- waving a kind goodbye to the bus driver as they did.   
They didn’t expect much, to be honest. Just a nice, quiet place to live in for at least a year or two. The bus stop immediately led onto a trail they followed, remembering the path like it was second nature. They used to come here a lot to visit their grandfather all those years ago.Their shoes crunched onto the pathway, the grass tickling their ankles as they made their way up to the old farm. God, it had been- what? Ten years since anyone had lived there? Sam wondered if anyone had kept up the old place. They sure hoped so.  
An old man with a brown cap and a friendly mustache immediately noticed them up the path, and waved them over.   
“Ah! You must be Sam, am I right?” he asked, stretching out a hand- laughing as Sam grasped it to give it a pleasant shake. “Wow, you’ve grown so much. I remember when you were only as tall as my hip. How’s the family been?”  
“Oh uh- they’re good. Healthy, y’know?”  
“That’s great! Honestly, I would keep questioning you on it, but we can talk about all that tomorrow, can’t we? We shouldn’t waste time. You’ve got a lot of work to do at the beginning of seasons, and it just turned Spring, hm? Busy time for farmers.”  
He was right. The brunt of the snow had melted at this point, but the worst of the piles still clung onto spots in shade- dripping into the grass. It meant lots of rainstorms in the coming weeks, Sam could guess. But, that seemed like a good thing for a farmer, didn’t it? Less watering to take care of. Then again, they barely knew anything about farming.  
The two of them walked up to their farm, which took a slightly uncomfortable amount of time- just enough to make Sam wipe the slight sheen of sweat from their forehead. They hoped they’d get used to that, especially considering the town was the complete opposite direction- and they’d have to walk there often.   
“And here we are! Robin’s inside fixing some of the uh- worst holes. She fixed the plumbing earlier, thankfully,” the man says.  
Sam pauses, before asking, “I’m sorry if this seems rude- but it’s been so long and uh- I used to just call you sir when I was little so- What’s your uh-”  
“What’s my name? Lewis,” he smiles warmly, which makes the tangles of nervousness in Sam’s stomach straighten themselves out. “I’m the mayor of this town.”  
“Oh! Yeah, yeah- I remember that. Grandpa mentioned you a lot when I was little but he just called you the mayor.”  
Lewis chuckles to himself at that, before turning around and shouting to the cabin, “How’s the work coming along Robin?”  
Robin pops her head out of the doorway, sporting a pair of overalls which she slips the hammer she had been using into. Her eyes make way to Sam, before widening, “Well hey! Thought they were coming tomorrow?”  
Sam shakes their head and shrugs, “Bus scheduling changed.”  
“Ah! I see, well- luckily I just got everything done right on time. Plumbing’s all good, I tested. The uh- outside on the other hand..”  
And that’s when Sam finally confronted the fact that they hadn’t looked at the front yard, and finally made eye contact with the overgrown tangle of vines, weeds, and rocks all over what used to be a bustling farm. They gulped at the amount of work immediately presented to them.  
“Oh Yoba,” Sam says, staring down the field with hesitation.  
Lewis laughs nervously, “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Some good ol’ elbow grease’ll fix it right up before the start of the season ends. We could even try convincing someone to help out over a weekend.”  
Robin snorts, “You’d have to pay any sane person a good amount of money to try and tackle that mess. Not to mention the house.”  
“Oh shush. She’s just trying to make you want to buy house upgrades at her shop-”  
“Hey!”  
Lewis rolls his eyes, but Sam could tell it was in a playful way, like they had done this before. He pats Sam on the back, before saying, “Try to introduce yourself to everyone. I got you a gift as well- just to help you start out. I’m sure you’ll make good friends with everyone.”  
Sam smiled politely, really not enjoying the idea of talking to a ton of people, “I’ll get to it, then.”  
The both of them said their goodbyes after a couple of minutes, both heading out the direction of the town to their respective workplaces. Sam breathed out a sigh, deciding if they were gonna commit themselves to anything- it might as well be to clearing out this farm.  
There was a rickety old shed in the back of the house- with a shattered window that the noon sun’s light streamed in through, illuminating the particles in the air. Sam found themselves in luck for the first time in days, coming eye to eye with an array of old, rusted tools. Luckily, they didn’t seem all that worn- probably because they had been sitting in here for the past decade untouched.   
Sam grabbed the scythe hesitantly, immediately shocked at how much it weighed. They could hold it just fine- but the thought of lugging it around already made their arms hurt.   
But. They weren’t some sort of quitter, were they?  
\---------  
Sam was absolutely a quitter, they learned as they set the top of the scythe into the cleared dirt. They wiped the sweat they had worked themselves into, their arms already aching for more of a break than just leaning on their tool for a minute or two. They breathed out a sigh, looking ahead and realizing they had only cleared a few feet at most. And there were acres of this farm. Not to mention the rocks- which Sam didn’t want to think about lugging a pickaxe above their head to break.  
The sun was setting, showing they had been working for about four hours now. Sam grabbed the scythe, bringing it back into the shed and haphazardly leaning it against a wall before starting the walk towards town. They didn’t bother showering, knowing they’d be too relaxed to try and actually talk to any people if they did.   
The walk to town was uncomfortable, more so than it was the first time they had gone to the farm. But they had gotten through the fifteen minutes of it, mostly because of the gentle, cooling breeze that caressed the grossest-feeling parts of their skin.  
Not many were out, which made sense- but they could feel the buzz of people from inside the town’s tavern. Seems like it was a popular hotspot, even on a Monday night.  
Sam walked up to it after wiping their face off with the underside of their shirt- realizing they had to look somewhat presentable.   
As they opened the door to the inside, they found quiet jazz coming from a jukebox in the corner- and a handful of people strewn about the tables. They immediately made eye contact with the bartender who ushered them over. Sam took a seat at one of the barstools in front of him, looking expectantly at the man to start the conversation.  
“You’re the new farmer, huh? Geez you look tired. Hard day’s work?” he asked.  
Sam nodded, “It took a lot more out of me than I expected.”  
“Tell you what, you can have a free meal. On the house. Here uh- Emily!” he turned around, looking at a blue-haired girl working on wiping down something in the back. “Can you get this young man some spaghetti and a beer? Thank you!”  
“Oh uh- I’m not-” Sam was about to say they weren’t a man, but-  
“I’m Gus, kid. Welcome to Stardew Valley,” he smiles warmly. “What were you saying?”  
Sam stutters a moment, their face flushing slightly, “Oh nothing. Uh- I’m gonna- I’m gonna go introduce myself to everyone else.”   
They swivelled around in the bar stool, getting off of it and landing on the floor with a light tap to the wooden floorboards. Their height didn’t bother them much- but it did make getting on and off of tall chairs more of a hassle. Sam’s eyes immediately picked up on the nearest table, housing a man wearing a worn down fisherman’s cap and a red sweater. There was a man seated next to him, with a beard that covered his chubby cheeks and a mop of light brown hair.  
They walked up to the table, and the two men looked up at them, their light talking coming to a stop. “Oh- sorry! I didn’t mean to barge in on your conversation. I’m Sam, the new farmer.”  
“Oye, nice name. The old farm’s yours then?” the man in the sweater asked. Sam nodded, “I’m Willy. Don’t shorten it to Will. This here’s Clint- but he’s a little shy. Just got back from a fishing trip yesterday. Man is it good to breathe air that’s not salty.”  
Sam smiled, “I used to fish a lot when I was younger. Won a couple prizes for it too.”  
Willy’s eyes opened in slight surprise, “Y’er a fisher? Well! I never took you for the type!”  
Sam shrugged, “I guess. Uh- I’m gonna go introduce myself to everyone else, but you seem pleasant. Uh- and it’s nice to meet you, Clint.” Clint nodded, staring down into his drink. Sam wasn’t all that bothered by it. They had talked to a lot of introverts before, especially during their highschool days- when that was typically the only group of people who sat with them at lunch.  
There was Leah, seated next to Elliot- who was only there for a quick drink. Pam, who Sam guessed they might like more if she wasn’t passed out on the table. Emily, the blue-haired barkeep who was pleasant- if a bit odd.   
Sam made their way to the last person in the tavern, a guy with dark purple hair and a blue sweater leaning against a wall and staring at the floor, drinking beer.  
They didn’t feel the most welcome in coming into his space, but they were dedicated to having a fresh, good start in this town.

“Hi, I’m-”  
“What do you want from me? Go away,” he sneers, rolling his eyes as he does so.  
Sam blinks, honestly having no idea how to react. Their thoughts unpause after a moment, and for some odd reason- a smile comes onto their lips, “You seem pleasant.”   
“And you seem like you’re invading my personal bubble so- fuck off.” 

And, well- Sam was tired. Of a lot more than farmwork. They take a seat at the barstool next to the man, turning to Emily to put their meal there. They glance back at him, before pretending to pop the imaginary bubble of personal space around him. 

He growls to himself, chugging down the rest of his beer- before crumpling the empty can and tossing it to a nearby trash can. It narrowly misses, landing onto the floor next to it. He doesn’t seem to notice though, slamming the door on his way out, which makes the entire tavern reverberate. There’s a pause. A silence. Before conversations hesitantly return to normal.  
Emily sets Sam’s food on the counter in front of them, “Sorry about Shane.”  
\---------  
If Sam thought the pain they felt after doing farmwork yesterday had been bad, this was a million times worse. The ache in their muscles had gone up tenfold- painful to what felt like the bone. Sam didn’t want to get out of bed, to be completely honest.  
But they did, immediately hopping in a shower and changing out of the gross feeling clothes they had slept in- sheerly because of the exhaustion of yesterday. As the hot water hit their back and rolled onto the floor, Sam nearly wanted to cry and praise Robin for fixing the plumbing.   
They made their way out, drying themselves off with a towel and putting on a new outfit. Sam had decided they were going to try and find some sort of help, or at least wait until the next day to continue farmwork. For now, they were mainly interested in continuing their ongoing introductions to everyone and learning the layout of the town. They didn’t think they were going to stay there for a particularly long time, but it was nice to get a grasp of the surroundings if they were gonna be there for any length of time.  
And then there they were, walking out the door with freshly damp hair; brown and curly and dripping lightly onto their forehead. It was drizzling, they realized- and of course they forgot to pay attention to the weather channel. To be honest, they just hoped it wouldn’t get worse while they were in town. The trek back would be miserable if it was.   
It was dawn, and the sun had barely risen- casting a light, pink glow onto only one half of the buildings. Sam smiled to themself at the sight, not realizing just how pretty the town had been when it was nighttime.   
They knocked on a couple of doors, the elderly neighbors who housed a boy named Alex introduced themselves as George and Evelyn. Sam didn’t know what was up with so many people immediately being rude to them- but it wasn’t as if they were planning to complain about it. Especially when on the other side of the coin, so many people had been particularly nice to them. Almost to a weird extent.  
They walked out, noticing a familiar head of purple hair walking through town square.  
“Hey! I know we got off to a bad foot yesterday but-”  
The man groaned, walking past them, only muttering out a quick, “Fuck off!”  
Sam pressed their lips into a straight line, not letting themselves take that as a damper on their day.

They make their way through town quickly, talking to everyone there as they do. They’d never expected the town to have so many people, but apparently there’s something about a small town life that attracts a ton of people. It was kind of funny to hear the constant misgendering, with everyone not being able to quite decide what they were.   
They’d let everyone else figure that out on their own, but they did appreciate the fact that most people saw them as a guy.  
It was about five when they had finally left town- a bit tired of constantly walking around with no stop and talking to people awkwardly that they had never met before. But they had expected worse, to be honest. Even the grumpiest people seemed more pleasant than some at home.  
They breathed out another sigh staring down the field they had to clear. Their back muscles almost began to ache in retaliation at what they knew Sam was gonna have to do- but Sam knew they’d have to start working at some point.   
They spent the rest of the day working themselves into exhaustion- tearing through overgrown plants, and pulling out old debris and trash that had become nestled into the leaves. They were getting more done than yesterday, now with the proper way to handle the tools figured out.  
It hits 8 pm, and they wipe the sweat off their brow- rubbing off the moisture on their hands onto their pants. They stare down at the work they had done proudly, setting the axe they had been using against the house. They come back, finally kneeling down and feeling the soil beneath- to see if it really was any use trying to farm in these circumstances.  
Their eyebrows went up at the feeling of moist, extremely good soil.  
‘Well,’ they thought, ‘it’d be a waste to keep letting this field go unplanted.’  
\-------  
Sam had quickly fallen into a routine- going to bed after a hard day’s work of clearing the field, planting and watering parsnip seeds in its now uncovered area. It's Friday, before they realize that they cleared most of the field. At least, the main portion of it in front of their house.  
Another thing they realize is that they hadn’t really gone to town aside from the handful of times they were hungry. A strange thing about their granddad’s old cabin was that it just didn’t have a kitchen. It’d probably be a couple of seasons before they managed to scrounge up the money to upgrade to one.   
They laughed to themself, chuckling at the fact that they were thinking about this whole thing as if it was a long term commitment. It quickly turns into a sigh. How had they even gotten to this point? Feeling happier at some dumb, overgrown farm than they did at home?  
Well, it wasn’t really their home anymore. This was now.

They made the walk to town, finding it easier and easier every time they did. Picking up a dandelion on their way there, before the dirt path turned to stone. It was turning dark again. Sunsets in the town always seemed the same, casting soft pink light onto the friendly place.   
Sam pushes open the tavern door and walks in, immediately seeing a whole lot more people than they were accustomed to all being in one small space. It was a Friday night- so everyone had made it out of the work week.   
It was nerve-wracking, being near so many people. Sam kept their eyes to the ground, walking up to the bar counter- trying not to let anyone rope them into a random conversation.   
“Uh- hi. Can I get two beers?” Sam asked.  
“Hey, Sam! That’ll be eight dollars,” Gus said, his arms crossed against his chest- which contradicted the smile he put on every night.  
Sam pulls out their wallet from their back pocket, fishing out a couple of dollars before handing it over to the man. After getting the two beverages, they gulp their anxiousness before walking over to Shane.   
He rolls his eyes as he sees them walking over, beginning to walk away before-  
“Hey wait!” Oh God, Sam didn’t mean to say that so loudly.  
Shane stopped, before sighing and turning around harshly, “What?!”  
Sam spluttered a moment, before their words ironed themselves out into a neat sentence, “I uh- I bought you a drink. To make up for teasing you. Y’know cause- you deserve personal space or- uh.. Yeah.” They offered one of the drinks to Shane, looking at him expectantly.   
Shane stared at them a second, before looking away then back again, “If I take this, will you leave me alone already?”  
Sam shrugged, “There’s a higher chance I will if you take it. Now c’mon!”  
He grabbed it like a child being forced to carry the vegetables they were forced to eat to the table, looking at Sam another moment or two before slumping back against his usual spot on the wall.   
Sam felt annoyed at the grumbling man, and to be honest- they didn’t quite understand the audacity to take a gift with annoyance.   
“Y’know a thank you would be nice, too,” Sam said.  
“How about I substitute a word in and just say fuck you instead?”  
“What is your fucking deal?”  
“Y’know, why don’t I ask you the same thing-”  
SMACK!  
And that was what had done it. That had been the breaking point of every annoying thing proposed to them in this town. It was Shane.  
Sam looked at their hand, that was numbly vibrating and beginning to turn red. It was nowhere near as bad as the red mark blooming on Shane’s cheek, though. Their eyes widen in shock, and they begin trying to mutter an apology but Shane slams the beer they had gotten him on the table, the contents of it sloshing onto the table’s wooden surface. He walks past them and shoulder-checks them as he does.  
Sam stands with lips slightly parted, before closing them as they gulp down their own shame. Everyone was staring at them.   
They needed to get out. They needed to get out right now.  
Shame coiled itself in their gut, threatening to grow and snap their lungs into four separate pieces. It was already polluting them, but Sam wouldn’t let themselves start to succumb to that until they left.  
And they did. Quickly. Not quickly enough to see Shane walking back to his house, but quickly enough to find themselves in the middle of the pouring rain- which of course had to start getting bad right as they needed it not to.  
They were cold, but not because of the rain. And despite that fact- they were sweating. Sweating enough to make their shaking hands clammy.  
Their chest burned, and finally they couldn’t hold back the impulse to breathe. But once they let themselves start- they couldn’t stop. Breathing in and out and in and out without any breaks or pauses. It only made their lungs ache in protest at the added pain.  
They rushed into somewhere random- somewhere near the benches. Somewhere near Harvey’s clinic. It was underneath a tree- the branches angling well enough to stop them from being seen by anyone who was an average height.  
Sam pulls their knees up to their chest, the damp soil underneath them wetting the underside of their jeans. They can barely hear the tiny footsteps of another coming up to them over their own hyperventilating.  
“Mister- uh, why are you breathing hard?” a high-pitched voice asks.  
Sam looks up over their knees, staring at the girl with widened eyes, “Oh uh- I-” Yeah, there was no easy way to explain panic attacks to a kid, “-I’m- I got scared uh-” they sucked in a breath, trying to stop it to answer, “-so I was running.”  
She gasped, “What was scary? A monster?”  
“No no- It was- I imagined it. Uhm- where’re your parents? And what’s your name?” Sam asked, their breathing starting to calm down slightly. There was something about having to gather your thoughts to hold a conversation that made sense with a child that made you a bit distracted from your own self-pity.  
The girl put on a rather guilty expression, before whispering the words, “I’m not s’posed to tell strangers stuff but.. I ran ‘way.” As if it would make the confession any less serious if it was quiet. She talks in a normal tone again, “My name is Jas.”   
Sam had enough control over themselves at this point to hold up a finger to Jas for her to pause, while they regained their breathing. It took a minute or two, and they stood up, putting their hands on their hips, “Well- why’re you running away?”  
“S’not.. My ribbon!” she answers.  
“Your ribbon? You ran away because of your ribbon?”  
Jas nods, “I went to bed and it was gone. It was raining outside. Was scared it would-” She makes swishing sound effects to replicate it being washed away instead of saying it.   
Sam pauses, before nodding sagely, “Well uh- how about this? I could drop you off at home and-”  
“No!” she shouts in protest.  
“No?-”  
“No!”  
“Okay, okay- that’s a no. How about we uh- the two of us could go out searching for it, and we go home once we find it,” Sam suggested, knowing they didn’t know where this kid lived- and that it wouldn’t help to try and convince her to go home herself.   
That seemed to calm Jas down, and she nodded, “Yes.”  
“Uh- okay, do you know where it was last?” Sam asked, shivering slightly from the cold as they stripped off their jacket, “And here- Uh, please put this on. It’ll keep you warm. And if you’re still chilly I can carry you.”  
“I won’t get cold! And I don’t know! Me and Vincent went to the park, then to…” she tries remembering, counting on her fingers as she does for whatever reason, “No, no- Penny took us to the library, and then near running water, and then we went to the park. And then I went home!”  
“Okay, uh- we’ll go to all those places and search, but only if you wear the jacket. Just.. trust me on this,” Sam pleads. Jas sighs, staring at Sam with frustration, before pulling it on over her shoulders stubbornly. Sam smiles at that, before saying, “I barely know the way around this place. Can you lead me to those places?”  
Jas nods, beginning to walk away- to which Sam follows, the hollow ache in their chest getting just a tiny bit more bearable. 

It takes thirty minutes to search near the library, another thirty to search near the ‘running water’ which was really a river, and Sam begins to lose all hope as they make their way to the park. They’d gone through grass and tree branches and even tried looking in bookshelves- much to the annoyance of Gunther, who let them in later than they probably should’ve been allowed to.   
Sam was chilled to the bone at that point, their shirt plastered to their skin with ice-cold water that was only made more freezing by the wind. They could tell Jas was cold too by the way she pulled their jacket closer around herself.  
The two of them make their way to the park, hopelessness settling in their stomachs at the lack of spotting a hair ribbon- but Jas stayed optimistic despite it all.  
As Sam helped peering through bushes and weeds near the fence, they ask, “I’m not gonna bring you home, but- I do need to know who your parents are.”  
Jas pauses in her search, before returning to looking around the colorful playground. She rode down the slide maybe a couple times more than she should’ve, considering what the goal of them being there was. “I live with my auntie and uncle. But I call my uncle my Dad in my head. You can’t tell him that, ‘kay?” Jas says. Sam nods, trying to cross off as many people as they could in their head.   
“What’re their names?” Sam asks, looking into a weed ridden enclosure.  
“I’m not allowed to say their names! Well.. hm… okay, I’ll tell you. But only because you seem trust worth. Worth a trust.. My auntie’s name is Marmie and my uncle’s name is Shane,” Jas admits.   
Sam’s head perks up at the name Shane, their eyebrows piercing together at what that meant. Shane was Jas’s guardian? Sam already knew Shane had lived at Marnie’s, because of Marnie’s small talk about it earlier that week- but he took care of Jas?  
“Huh. Well, you have to promise you won’t run away from them again unless you really need to,” Sam warns.  
“I did really need to!”  
Sam smiles to themself at that, before sighing, “Jas, I don’t think we’re gonna find it tonight.” They could almost hear Jas’s disappointed whine. They were shivering hard enough to make their teeth clink together.  
“Honestly, I could buy you another ribbon-”  
“No! No! I want that one!”  
“Okay but-” Sam quickly cut themself off at the sound of Jas’s crying. They stood there, pressing their lips into a line before striding over to where she was and wrapping her in a hug. She was so cold.   
“Shh, sh sh sh,” Sam said, trying to keep their breathing steady to keep themselves warm. “Hey, hey, it’s gonna be alright. But you’re so cold. We’ve gotta get you home. Your uncle and auntie are gonna be worried.”  
Jas whimpers, turning around and burying her face in Sam’s chest- crying into it. Sam rubs soothing circles on Jas’s back, resting their chin on the top of her head.   
“My mom and dad…” Jas keeps sobbing, “-My mommy gave me them. My mommy gave me the ribbons.”  
Considering the fact that Jas was living with Marnie and Shane, Sam could maybe guess what the real problem was about. “I know. I know. Just cry it out.”  
At the sound of that, Sam could hear someone’s shouting in the distance. Something that sounded a lot like Jas’s name.  
“Jas, we gotta get you to your aunt and uncle, okay? They’ve gotta be worried sick.”  
Jas whimpered, nodding into Sam’s shirt. Sam stands up, picking up Jas and holding her against their chest as they do. They walk to the sound of where the shouting was coming from- seeing a light in the distance as they do and-  
Hey.   
Wait a minute.   
They walk up to where the fence cut off for the entrance into town. And there the ribbon was, fluttering against the wood. Stuck on one of the looser nails by some miracle.  
“Jas! Jas, it’s right here! I found it!”  
“You wha’?”  
Sam grabs the ribbon the best they can, handing it to Jas who clutches it tight in her small hand. Her eyes sparkle against the tears that had built up in them- and she looks up at Sam with a grin, before hugging her arms around their neck.   
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaims.   
Shane sprints over to the pair of them at the sound of Jas’s voice, looking at them with frantic eyes- before breathing out a sigh of relief. “Oh my yoba, you’re alright- Okay, thank … Sam? Why’re you..?”  
“Uncle!” Jas says, reaching her hand out towards him as a sign for him to grab onto her instead so she could let go of Sam. He obliges, scooping her into his arms without any hesitation but a small bit of effort as he grunts from the weight.  
“Where were you? Why did you run away? And why-” he looks at him Sam, almost glaring, but not quite, at the idea of them not giving him his kid back.  
“My hair ribbon! I lost it and I thought the rain would wash it away!” Jas explains, holding up the hair ribbon. Sam awkwardly crosses their arms over their chest, wanting to dip out rather than explaining their situation. Especially to some guy they had slapped just an hour or two ago.   
Shane breathes out a sigh, knowing he’d have to think of some sort of punishment later- but for now he was just relieved. “Yoba, you’re cold…” he looks up at Sam again, his eyebrows pierced together in confusion, trying to figure out why on Earth they’d play along with Jas’s runaway adventure.  
“I didn’t uh- I helped her try and find the ribbon so she wouldn’t be doing it without supervision.”  
“Why didn’t you just bring her back to me?” he barked out.  
“Uh I didn’t-” Sam gulps down whatever anxiety had been rising in their throat, once again confronting the panic they had managed to repress from earlier. “I- It’s not- I didn’t know she was your kid.”  
Shane dragged a hand down his face, at which Sam looked closer at his features. His eyes were circled with red- he had clearly been crying before this. Maybe Sam just hadn’t noticed the tears because of the rain.  
“Okay, y’know what- I don’t fuc- freaking care. I just- We’re gonna get home, okay, Jas?” Shane asked, hugging Jas closer to his chest so she could feel a shred of the warmth he was exuding. Jas nodded sleepily, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
Shane looked at Sam with an indiscernible expression one last time, before beginning to walk away. Sam watches him trail off, his phone’s flashlight being turned off as he does. They can swear that they can see him take off his own sweater in the distance and wrap it around the girl before meeting up with a surprised lady at the end of the street.  
Sam wraps their arms around their own torso, and realizes the fact that their fingers were completely numb- along with the surface of their face. They breathe out, their breath turning white in the cold air for just a second. Sam turns to quickly head back home, trying to pull into themselves for any shred of warmth as they do.  
Shit. Jas still had their jacket. No wonder.  
The walk home was miserable, the path underneath their feet turning to mud from the rain and the movement of their footsteps. Sam could barely feel anything in any part of their body, but they could feel their feet as they got soaked through with mud. This would be hell to clean without a good laundry machine, they realized- and theirs wasn’t anything they’d call spectacular.

\---Shane---

Shane had spent what felt like an eternity searching around the woods, and the wizard’s tower, and even part of that new farmer’s untamed field. Marnie was helping him, searching through the town herself- but he couldn’t quell his own fears and the gut wrenching idea that maybe this had been caused by him. Maybe Jas had run away because of him.  
He had tried to be a good figure in Jas’s life- at least enough of a decent one to not give her long term psychological issues. But he also never tried to play an active part. The sooner Jas realized she had to turn to Marnie for what was supposed to be her parental figure, the better. But even with all that in mind-  
Shane was so fucking terrified of losing her. The idea of her falling over those cliffs by accident, or by being kidnapped, or by accidentally bleeding out in some forest after finding Robin’s missing axe were all he could think about. He was fueled by the fear, pushing himself past the limits of what he was usually used to in terms of shouting and running.   
He had pulled on a coat, quickly realizing Jas wasn’t in her bed when he had gone in to grab his phone that he had left in her room. Her bed was empty, but still warm. She had left.  
He searched around the entire house in a panic along with Marnie, before the two of them had pulled on coats and left as soon as they possibly could- without even putting on a pair of boots for the rainy weather.  
His face still hurt ever so slightly from what that new farmer had done to him earlier, but he could barely think about it over his own worries surrounding Jas.   
But he did earlier- and he felt a lot of things. Frustration, anger, a slight sense of awe at the audacity to slap some random guy you had just given a gift to. And, of course, the guilt. He always felt guilty nowadays. It consumed him like a black hole meeting matter. The ways he treated his family, the ways he treated past friends, the ways he treated the town. All of them he regretted, even if he did nothing to change it.  
And he guessed he had it coming at some point.  
But he didn’t deserve this, he thought as he saw Sam holding his- well, she wasn’t really his daughter. She was someone else’s, and he just so happened to be the next in line to take care of her.  
He had felt anger before, but never like the chilling type that had blossomed in his chest at the sight of this newcomer, who barely knew anyone at all in the town, holding onto Jas. But he wasn’t about to blow up. In fact, the anger that had coursed through his veins had quickly stilled at the sound of Jas, and he ran up to get there- relief crashing through his insides like a tsunami against a seaside city.  
He groaned at the explanation of why she had ran away internally, but- Yoba, why on Earth would this kid go out into the rain and mud for a hair ribbon?

It’s only as he’s walking back when he realizes Jas is wearing a jacket that’s ten sizes too big. One with the same sleeve pattern he could remember from when Sam had slapped him earlier.  
He looked back at them quickly, and tried not to dwell on the idea. The thought that they had lended Jas their sweater to stay warm.  
\--------Sam---------  
It was sunny again the next day, but the smell of rain still lingered and puddles hung onto crevices and pits in the worn cement and pathways. Sam’s eyes fluttered open to the sound of a text. They sort of enjoyed the fact that they didn’t need to wake up from an alarm anymore, even though they still did.   
They sat up, running a hand through their messed up curls while they reached over to grab their phone from the bedside table. They tapped on the screen and pulled up their messages after a few seconds- already knowing who it was without glancing at the name.

Jeffrey:  
I need to call. Can i? It’s kind of early, sorry.

Sam  
Yeah sure

The phone rang moments later, and they picked up before the sound had even started. As he talked, they began to do what was most of their morning routine: making breakfast, styling their hair, and brushing their teeth.

“Sorry about this. I know we’ve been- Sort of on weird terms lately,” the voice on the other side of the line commented. Sam hummed in an agreeable response, chewing through their bite of a granola bar.  
“I just- God, I never.. I never realized how much you meant to me, y’know? I..”   
Sam sighed, before replying, “Are you drunk right now? You don’t really sound drunk, but..”  
“No, no- I uh- it’s been harder without you here, though. Listen I just- I want us to keep having space, but I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I really am. You don’t have to forgive me right now- like, of course you don’t. But you’re the best person I’ve ever met. You know that, Sam.”  
“J.. God, I- it’s been a week.”  
“I know. I know. And I know you needed time, especially after..”  
“We don’t have to talk about that right now. And, actually I’d really rather not. I- Look, I have to go back to farming so-”  
Sam could hear a snicker from the other, “You’re actually farming there? I thought you’d just get some minimum wage job at Jojamart again.”  
“You know I don’t like Jojamart! I left partially because of it.”  
“Right, right. Well uh- if you ever need money for some radish seeds,” he joked.  
Sam rolled their eyes, but couldn’t bring themselves to be mad. They’d been mad enough, and didn’t feel like bringing that to their new house. “Radish seeds aren’t even in season, cityslicker,” they said, before hanging up.   
Yeah. It was still awkward. But maybe there was still hope for the two of them, still. They sure hoped there was. They did.

**Author's Note:**

> oh pls comment btw!! it means a lot if you do <3 literally anything'd be nice lol


End file.
